A vivid portrait of what it means to be a teenage girl in America today, from 58 of the country's finest, most credentialed writers on the subject
If you're a teenage girl today, you live your life in words-in text and instant messages, on blogs and social network pages. It's how you conduct your friendships and present yourself to the world. Every day, you're creating a formidable body of personal written work.
This generation's unprecedented comfort level with the written word has led to a fearless new American literature. These collected essays, at last, offer a key to understanding the inscrutable teenage girl-one of the most mislabeled and underestimated members of society, argues editor and writer Amy Goldwasser, whose work has appeared in Seventeen, Vogue, The New York Times, and The New Yorker. And while psychologists and other experts have tried to explain the teen girl in recent years, no book since Ophelia Speaks has given her the opportunity to speak for herself-until now.
In this eye-opening collection, nearly sixty teenage girls from across the country speak out, writing about everything from post-Katrina New Orleans to Johnny Depp; from learning to rock climb to starting a rock band; from the loneliness of losing a best friend to the loathing or pride they feel about their bodies. Ranging in age from 13 to 19, and hailing from Park Avenue to rural Nevada, Georgia to Hawaii, the girls in RED-whose essays were selected from more than 800 contributions-represent a diverse spectrum of socioeconomic, political, racial, and religious backgrounds, creating a rich portrait of life as a teen girl in America today.
Revealing the complicated inner lives, humor, hopes, struggles, thrills, and obsessions of this generation, RED ultimately provides today's teen girl with much-needed community, perspective, and validation-and helps the rest of us to better understand her.
Red Amy Goldwasser Introduction
The Body and Various Thoughts on Beauty
Amy Hunt Sleeves
Alison Smith Curve
Jane Horowitz The Jewish Hair
Tiffani Hortman Muscle
Emily Kaplan Ode to My Breasts
Caro Fink Lucky
Charlotte Steinway The Weather Report
Meike Schleiff The "Beautiful" Cause of Death That Had Me Dying for a While
People You Have to Live with and Other Family
Alicia Davis Country
Claudia Berger The News
Hannah Morris The Two of Us
Sarah Morris To See How They Look on Me, on You
Emma Considine Bloody Red Heart
Jordyn Turney Mascara Wands Are Instruments of War
Kathryn Pavia The Fourth Floor
Zulay Regalado Pots and Pans
Annie Littlewood TLC: Three Days
Maxine Keyes Ghost Stories
What Can Be Learned at School
Emily Knox The Best Kind of Popular
Laura Lowe A Retelling of the Black-Letter Days, The Red-Letter Days, and the Fine Line That Ties Them Together
Elizabeth Case Hey You, Freshman with the Face!
Sara Harari Life Goes up a Wall
Carey Dunne Gym at Riverton
Lisa Chau Stuck in Traffic
Deborah Kim Packing
Friendships: Gone Well, Gone Poorly, Just Gone
Sarah McIntosh Lies We Have Told
Sarah Harrison Tampoons
Rebecca Murray Big Shoes
Elizabeth Metzger An Orchid, If That Is What It Is
Crushes Sweet and Excruciating, Sex, and a Love That Ends in Desert Rehab
Jocelyn Pearce The Match
Jasmine Sennhauser Decent Guy on the Planet
Eliza Appleton Cribs
Hayley Hoover The Sun's Shining Hotter
Jessica Goodman Boy One
Samantha Lewin Finding Myself in Utah
Anything Extracurricular: The Beach, the Horse, the Bee, the Lousy First Job, the Stellar Future Career, etc.
Kirsten Oldroyd Mini Mountain
Kelly Otterness Lately
Erika Kwee East
Lucy Bennett The Hamptons
Jaclyn Humphrey Pediatrics
Anna Saxon The Management
Samantha Gillogly Apiarian Days
Lindsay Erin Sellers Alone
Media, Pop Culture, Johnny Depp, Freakdom and Fandom
Sarah Schelde What Truthness Taught Me About Being (Un)Cool
Kali Moriarty Appeal from an Angry Not So Emo
Grace Habegger The Depth of Depp
Olive Panter Play
Saskia Boggs Just Watch
The World and What's Wrong (Sometimes Even What's Right) with It: Battle Cries
Dani Cox Ms. President
Cammi Henao Once in a While
Aarian Marshall Burning in Heaven
Zoe Mendelson Places of Worship
Danielle Norman Repeat
Cindy Morand The Border
Kathleen Hicks Bodies of Water
Maya-Catherine Popa The Dial Life—and Him
Emily-Nicole Johns New City
Carla Perez-Gallardo To Do
About the Editor
Anonymous
Posted December 5, 2007
I am a new step-mother to a young teenage girl. Not only are there the normal 'teenage issues' but compound those issues with a new family unit and a longing for bio-mom and daddy to get back together and you have one emotional young girl! I pre-ordered the book and gave it to my step-daughter as soon as it arrived. She did not say a whole lot other than the barely audible 'thanks'. However, about a week later my husband came home from a visit with her. She wanted him to let me know how much she is enjoying the book and sharing it with her friends. She really liked it! The stories hit home and resonate! This has opened the door for me to engage in dialogue with her surrounding those stories: What in particular did she like? Which stories was she drawn to and what did those stories mean to her in her own life? As a new mom, I say thank you to the editor for compiling such an intriguing set of life stories which resonate with a 14 year old, and helped to 'fire-up' real dialogue!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I helped set up a girls support group at the counseling center i work at and this was one of the books that we suggested for them to read. I think the girls found it very helpful & made it easier for them to relate to others & let them know that they aren't alone. Very well written by these various girls. I'm impressed
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 16, 2007
I wrote 'Boy One'! i wrote about the frustrations of understanding boys as well as dealing with some of the situations that come along like getting followed after class or understanding why i can't have a boyfriend as other girls do. i am very proud of being published before i head off to college next year but RED has definately taught me that i do have a chance to succeed and i'm the one in charge of making things happen. when you read stories from this book, you will definately feel at home and finally have other teen girls just like you who also understands what your going through. it's very appreciative to see that emotion and experiences in writing because it just shows you that you are not alone!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 18, 2007
My name is Zulay and I am one of the authors of this book (essay titled Pots and Pans), and I would have to say that there's no better feeling than to have others gain a better insight on my very own thoughts and emotions. This book gives a vivid insight on what it's like to be a teenage girl in this generation and encounter some situations that many would never dare speak to anyone. I'm sure teen girls, as well as anyone looking to find fresh, unique and inspiring voices in this world of routine rant, will absolutely love this book!
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Overview
A vivid portrait of what it means to be a teenage girl in America today, from 58 of the country's finest, most credentialed writers on the subject
If you're a teenage girl today, you live your life in words-in text and instant messages, on blogs and social network pages. It's how you conduct your friendships and present yourself to the world. Every day, you're creating a formidable body of personal written work.
This generation's unprecedented ...